Diary of two mad authors….

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Tag Archive | kindness

We hope your weekend was wonderful. We’ve been busy ourselves. Lots of family stuff, friends, trips and the ever popular, chores. With Spring in full bloom, we’ve been cleaning out, organizing and giving away ‘stuff’ that we no longer need. What about you? Have you been bit with the spring bug to purge, clean and organize?

Well, with all that said, we wanted to share another few poems from Marilyn. These are fun, and reveal a deepness in her that few knew. Enjoy!!

Don’t cry my doll

Don’t cry

I hold you and rock you to sleep

Hush hush

I’m pretending now

I’m not your mother who died.

Life-

I am of both your directions

Existing more with the cold frost

Strong as a cobweb in the wind

Hanging downward the most

Somehow remaining

those beaded rays have the colours

I’ve seen in paintings-ah life

they have cheated you

thinner than a cobweb’s thread

sheerer than any-

but it did attach itself

and held fast in strong winds

and singed by the leaping hot fires

life-of which at singular times

I am both of your directions-

somehow I remain hanging downward

the most

as both of your directions pull me.

It’s amazing to us how much sadness was in this woman who was so ‘loved’ by the public. It goes to show that we really don’t know the people around us, even the people we are closest too. So, for this next week, take time. Take time to notice the ‘Marilyn’s’ in your life and show them kindness and tell them how much you appreciate and love them.

Dee Louis-Scott is retiring from 30 years as a Federal employee. She has an adult daughter Autumn and is experiencing life as an empty nester. It has been 20 years since her mother’s death. The life lessons learned from her mom have been both powerful and inspirational. They have guided her throughout her life. Dee now lives in Raymore, Missouri.

Welcome Dee! We are so honored to have you here today. Let’s jump right in.

~~What makes this book different from others in your genre?

What makes my book different is not only do you get true great inspirational and motivational stories you also get some life lesson. Those life lessons are either what my mom Mattie Fisher told me or what I believe she would want others to get from her life stories. This book is part Chicken Soup for the Soul part prescriptive lessons and a lot of MAGIC. I have not come across anything with this exact format.

~~What’s the story behind the story? (What inspired you to write your book?)

My mother would tell me stories about her life from time to time. The older I got the more intrigued I became. One day I decided to just start a journal. The journal would be for my daughter so she would really understand who her grandmother was and what she went through to ensure both my daughter and I would have a better life. After I read over some of the stories I just knew that more people need to hear these. Thus began my journey.

~~What hope can you give to others in turmoil?

I hope I can give others the “Knowing” that anything and everything is possible and no situation is impossible to overcome.

~~Did you find healing in writing this story? Can you give an example?

Yes I found healing and understanding. In writing the chapter “Run Get out Now” I had to relive domestic violence. In “Broken” I had to deal with a tragic death. The first thing I had to do was face those situations. After I faced it I was able to look into my life and see how these events affected me and my relationships. What I could do moving forward to correct some issues. I talk a little more in depth in the “Epilogue’.

~~What was your favorite chapter to write and why?

This is hard because I have two favorite chapters for totally different reasons. “Ahead of her Time” because I am so proud of what mom was able to do. It felt so good to put it on paper for the whole world to see. Also “The Supernatural and the Unexplained” I enjoyed. I really went back amd did research to find the “names” for the things she was experiencing. Along the way I found answers for myself of some events that happen to me.

~~What was your most difficult chapter to write and why?

Again this is a hard one. Three chapters were hard for me to write. The one I cried through was Sunset. It was the longest and took me many starts and stops to finish it. I relived losing my best friend. The mistakes I made in turning over her care to someone else. Also it was longing and hoping that I was creating something with this book she would be proud of.

~~How is growing up today different from Mattie’s era?

I talked about this in the Life Lesson of Ahead of her time. When you think about not only the racism but the sexism of that era is amazing what she accomplished as a Black woman. Women issues like the right to body integrity; to vote; to hold public office; to work with fair wages or equal pay; to own property; to enter into legal contracts; and to have marital, parental and religious rights. All of which we take for granted today. Then you add to that the civil rights for black Americans that really didn’t take hold until the 1950’s and I am amazed by the tenacity and strength she had to fight oppression.

~~You speak about supernatural events and abilities in your book, do you believe in the supernatural or is this just a way to make your book more interesting?

No dealing with the supernatural and unexplained has always been and still is a part of my life. The gifts though in different forms were handed down to me and my daughter. My daughter, just to name a couple of things, saw auras around the human body as a child and as a she grew she would dream events before they happen. I sometimes see spirits and hear them move often. We have just learned to live with it.

~~Are you planning on writing another book anytime soon? If so can you tell us a bit about it?

One of the chapters in my book dealt with health of my mom and her family. Though neither I nor my brother inherited the same issues, I wanted to find a natural way to deal with health. I have been studying Ayurveda philosophy. The philosophy of Ayurveda teaches a series of conceptual systems characterized by balance and disorder, health and disease. Disease/health results from the interconnectedness between the self, personality, and everything that occurs in the mental, emotional, and spiritual being. To be healthy, harmony must exist between the purpose for healing, thoughts, feelings and physical action. I want to develop a lifestyle program around this philosophy.

~How can reading this book help others?

What I want others to get from this book is what I know my mom would want. To inspire woman of all age to never give up and know that you can do and be whatever is in your heart. Never settle and know that you were created by greatness for greatness.

~~Thank you so much for joining us today and sharing such deep and personal truths with us.

We know you are familiar with the phrase “what goes around comes around,” but do you believe it? Do you really feel that if you sow love, kindness, patience, gentleness, and perseverance that it will make a difference in how you are treated or in how you are rewarded? And likewise, if you sow hate, impatience, and meanness that is what you will reap? We do. We are firm believers that in life, you reap what you sow.

Another phrase we hear is “go the extra mile.” By definition “go the extra mile” is to make more effort than is expected of you; to do more and make a greater effort. How many times do we, in a normal day, do this? Think about it, because it matters. Your life long success depends on it. Whether at home, at work, at play or anywhere you find yourself, going the extra mile is what makes life, your life, successful.

Here is a story that we have seen from time to time (we don’t know where it was first printed) but always gives us pause. This story, and there are many more like it, always causes us to reflect and take stock of our personal life as well as our business life as co-authors. The story goes:

Many years ago an elderly lady was strolling through a Pittsburgh department store, obviously killing time. She passed counter after counter without anyone paying any attention to her. All of the clerks had spotted her as an idle “looker” who had no intention of buying. They made it a point of looking in another direction when she stopped at their counters.

What costly business this neglect turned out to be! Finally the lady came to a counter that was attended by a young clerk who bowed politely and asked if he might serve her.

“No” she replied, “I am just killing time, waiting for the rain to stop so I can go home”. “Very well Madam” the young man smiled, “may I bring out a chair for you”, and he brought it without waiting for her answer. After the rain stopped, the young man took the lady by the arm, escorted her to the street and bade her good-bye. As she left she asked him for his card.

Several months later the owner of the store received a letter, asking that this young man be sent to Scotland to take an order for the furnishings of a home. The owner of the store wrote back that he was sorry, but the young man did not work the home furnishings department, however, he explained that he would be glad to send an “experienced man” to do his job.

Back came a reply that no one would do except this particular young man. The letter was signed by Andrew Carnegie and the house he wanted furnished was Skibo Castle in Scotland. The elderly lady was Mr. Carnegie’s mother. The young man was sent to Scotland and he received an order for several hundred thousand dollars worth of household furnishings. He later became the owner of half interest in the store.

Verily it pays to go the extra mile.

When we practice this skill, and it can be learned and honed like any other skill, of going the extra mile, we improve and work on us. The great return is that it always blesses the life of those around us too. There is something magical that happens, even while we are ‘away’ from the situation. People do not forget unmerited kindness and thoughtfulness. They remember for years and years. What you do today, unasked and unexpected, could come back around to bless you tomorrow or twenty years from now. But, it always, always comes back and blesses because what goes around does indeed come back around.

Robert Louis Stevenson once said “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” How true! Our life on this earth is all about planting. At different times in our life we do get to harvest, but not near as many times as we get to plant. You never know if your tiny act of kindness or thoughtfulness, or your willingness to stay an extra thirty minutes at the end of the day, or your purposed remembering of someone’s favorite snack will be the only good thing in their day. Better still, it may turn out to be the best thing in your day or even your life. For we do not always know who we will be rendering that kindness too nor who may see.

Just remember when you look at anyone who is considered successful, or favored, or ‘the pet’ or whatever else they may be labeled, consider this. Take a look at their history, step by step, and you will find that their success, more times than not, was due solely to their own initiative. They were willing to go the extra mile.

We cannot stress enough how important it is for all of us to give more than we receive, go the extra mile, think of others and what would bless them. For this is the main ingredient of someone who is successful, truly successful in life. Stop measuring and start pouring. You will be glad you did.